Obama library raises at least $850,000

The foundation planning Barack Obama’s presidential library has raised between $850,000 and $1.75 million, the organization said Tuesday.

The Barack Obama Foundation has pledged to release the names of donors that contributed more than $200 on its website on a quaterly basis.

Tim Collins, Cari and Michael J. Sacks, and Marilyn and Jim Simons each contributed between $250,001 and $500,000. Lise Strickler and Mark Gallogly contributed between $100,001 and $250,000. All of them raised money for Obama during his campaigns or have served on various baords.

The foundation will operate as a section 501(c)(3) organization, making it eligible to accept tax-deductible contributions for its educational and charitable purposes. It will disclose all donors and donations over $200 on a quarterly basis.

For the remainder of Obama's term, it will follow donation guidelines in line with those adopted by the president for his campaigns, including no support from foreign nationals, currently registered federal lobbyists or foreign agents.

Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and White House staff will not participate in fundraising efforts during the remainder of the president's term.

The foundation declined to release a list of which groups have applied but universities in New York, where Obama went to college, and Hawaii, Obama's birthplace, announced they submit proposals. Several organizations in his longtime home of Chicago also have submitted proposals.

The leaders of foundation -- longtime friend Marty Nesbitt, former campaign fundraiser Julianna Smoot and businessman J. Kevin Poorman -- hope to narrow the list by late summer and select a site for the future library by early 2015.